Rebellion

Taking Action

(A/N) I'm using "they/them" pronouns simply because I want to leave the gender up to interpretation, as opposed to being female like in my other books.

Late that night, the moon was sitting high in the sky. It was the only light shining over the whole town. Up in the government building, Darkiplier stood over the large map that lay across his desk on his study.  A fire roared in the huge fireplace across the room from him.

He slammed his fist on the desk. "Where are they?" He growled.

"Ya know, you should be letting me do that," Anti said from the doorway.

"I know, I just want to find the blasted Defiance," Dark admitted. "Besides, I'm not just the face of this government. People need to be afraid of me."

"People are afraid of you," Anti chuckled. "We wouldn't have any power if they weren't."

It was Dark's turn to laugh. "Fair enough."

Anti peered over his friend's shoulder. "Did Natemare tell you about the soldier who tried to run this morning?"

"He did," Dark answered, leaning back in his chair. "I don't understand why they leave. Is it really so hard to follow instructions?"

"A lot of people consider this a fate worse than death," Anti said, letting out a single, hard laugh. "Which is why we don't kill them for it."

"Not only that, but we need the numbers," Dark put in. "People won't be afraid of us if we don't have the right numbers."

"Exactly," Anti agreed. "By the way, I say we should start sending out some of the troops to look for the Defiance. Starting tomorrow."

"I agree." Dark stood up straight and cracked his neck. "We've given them long enough to make themselves known. Now, we take action."
   
   

You wandered through the dark streets, rifle drawn, on the lookout for anyone who might be out of line. Everyone was supposed to be indoors at this time of night. That didn't always stop people though. 

At the sound of footsteps, you turned your head. They stopped almost as soon as you did, but that didn't mean the their source was gone. You turned around and started walking towards them.

Once whoever it was realized that you were coming toward them, the footsteps started up again, this time faster.

"Who's there?" You called. "Stop!"

The person didn't but instead, started to run. And so did you. Whoever this was, you were determined to not let them get away. You smiled to yourself as you realized that they were heading for a dead end.

Just as you were getting ready to corner them, you heard a crash to your left. That was weird. You had thought for sure that the person had run right in front of your. Against your better judgement, you turned to investigate the crash.

"Show yourself!" You yelled, pointing your rifle.

You then saw the figure, but it wasn't showing you who they were. Instead, they ran the opposite way that you had come. Glancing back, you saw the other person taking off. Now torn, you decided to go for the person you could see.

You dashed after them. You had considered yelling  for some backup, but if you were able to bring them in on your own, then you'd get a lot of respect from the general, and maybe even from the Leaders.

In what little light there was, you could tell the person was male. With a surge of speed, you dashed after him, but it wasn't enough. The man turned the corner, with you right behind, but by the time you had turned, he was gone.

You placed your hands on your hips and scanned the area. How could he have just disappeared? After looking everywhere you could think, even up at the edge of the wall you were near, you left that area, and returned to your post.
  
  
Mark sighed in relief as he sagged against the wall. "Thanks for being there to grab me."

Amy smiled, also out of breath. "No problem," she said."Thanks for distracting them with the trashcan."

Mark nodded, then looked around the wall to make sure you were really gone.

"That was way too close," Amy said, already knowing what he was thinking.

"It's getting too dangerous," Mark stated. "We can't be going out at night anymore."

The couple started to make their way back to their base.

"We can't go out during the day either," Amy pointed out. "It's even worse because people can identify us."

"I know," Mark said, rubbing the back of his neck. "We're going to have to figure something out."

The two of them entered the base again. Most of the team had gone to bed, but a few stayed up, waiting for Mark and Amy to return.

"How'd it go?" Felix asked.

"Judging by the lack of food, I take it not very well?" Nate asked.

"We need to figure something out," Amy said. "We had another one."

"Another close call?" Felix said, glancing at Nate. "This is the third night op that this happened.

"I think were going to have to meet about this," Mark suggested, "like, with the whole group. I just don't know how we're going to make it."

"We are going to make it," Amy stated firmly. "We just need a new plan. And we can't leave for little things anymore."

"We can make it work with what we have, I think," Nate said. "I'll check with Matt and Jack about that. The main problem would be food."

"Especially with three babies around here," Mark added. 

"We can talk about it in the morning," Felix said. "And hopefully, we can try to figure out what the Opposition's next move is."